If you've ever wondered how to measure social media, public relations, public affairs, media relations, internal communications or blogs you're in the right spot. In this space I'll be regularly ranting and raving about measurement standards, research news, techniques and the latest developments in the world of PR research and evaluation. When I'm not here, you can find me in my garden in Durham New Hampshire or in my sailboat out on the Oyster River.

How to introduce me

For those who bear the burden of introducing me at a conference...

Katie Delahaye Paine (twitter: KDPaine) is the CEO and founder of KDPaine & Partners LLC and author of, Measuring Public Relationships, the data-driven communicators guide to measuring success. She also writes the first blog and the first newsletters dedicated entirely to measurement and accountability. In the last two decades, she and her firm have listened to millions of conversations, analyzed thousands of articles, and asked hundreds of question in order to help her clients better understand their relationships with their constituencies.
People talk, we listen..

November 15, 2009

Guess what these pictures have in common?

True confession time. I've gotten so many compliments on my outfits of late, I decided it was time to come clean with my source.

Yes, all these pictures were taken at various speeches I've given in the last few years, but there's one other element they all share. They all came from my favorite boutique, which should be called

"La bonne volonté" but is, in fact, my local Goodwill store. Now, in the interest of transparency, Goodwill is a client of ours. But I was a big fan of Goodwill long before they became a client. I just realized that as I'm trying desperately trying to reduce my carbon footprint, one way I could do that was not to buy yet another piece of clothing that was manufactured in China or Honduras and traveled god knows how to my local Macy's. I think of it as recycling chic.

or-in-chief of Harpers Bazaar I better --- you can score some amazing deals. Nothing makes your day like finding a $500 suit for $19 and then finding the shoes to match for $5. Most of these outfits cost less than $50 and the most expensive element is probably the earrings.

Goodwill is yet another in a long line of non-profits that is effectively using social media to change and upgrade its image. And, as it happens, one of our recommendations to Goodwill was that they needed to use visuals more in their social media efforts. I decided I better practice what I was preaching.

Ah, it's good to know I'm not the only one out there. My strategy: 1. Find the GWs in the 'snooty' neighborhoods, where looking good matters the most, 2. Go every week to take advantage of the 50% off deals - usually a different color tag every week. Did you know stores like Target will donate loads of clothes that don't sell in stores? Brand new! I could write a dissertation, though, on why Goodwill is the awesomest.

Bravo! I, too, have become a big fan of consignment and re-use, both for economical and ecological reasons. My shoes and boots these days are repaired instead of replaced; when I need something nice my first stop is consignment -- not Nordstrom. I have a few go-tos that always come through here in Minneapolis. (But I'm not tellin'.)

Search

Measure What Matters

Katie Delahaye Paine's great little book Measure What Matters shows organizations of all sizes how to evaluate and improve their public relations and social media efforts. OrderMeasure What Matters now.